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With cold weather upon us – it was only in the 30’s F. at lunchtime today – I am not sure for how much longer the garden will be in bloom. So, of course, I am trying to enjoy it as much as I can before winter hits. Here are some photos from this morning. My fingers were numb taking them, but it was still a great pleasure to be out with the flowers.

I am not sure that I can explain it, but I find there to be something romantic about an autumn garden – perhaps it has something to do with its beauty and quietude and all of the memories that it contains.

Several of the roses – Mr. Lincoln and Secret – are especially fragrant now. I wish that I could share their scent with you.

I was out on the Konza Prairie the other afternoon and it was just about the prettiest that I have seen it. The grasses are starting to put on their autumn colors – subtle shades of golds, oranges, reds and purple – before they turn brown for the winter. It is delightful to walk on the trails and hear little besides the wind blowing through the grasses, the songbirds and crickets, and the crunch of one’s own footsteps. In some places, the grasses are tall enough that I could extend my arms almost straight out from my sides and touch them with my fingertips as I passed by.

Even by Kansas standards, our recent weather has been unusually variable. It has been gorgeous and sunny the past few days with high temperatures in the mid-80’s. (In case you don’t remember, we had snow last week.) The warm weather has stimulated plants to put on a lot of growth and it is really starting to look like Spring; and yet cold weather is supposed to roll back in tomorrow with the chance of snow Thursday and Friday. That would be snow in May – not very good for the garden, even if it doesn’t stick around. So, I decided that I’d better enjoy the flowers while they last and get some photos of them today. I’m so glad that I did. Photographing flowers makes one stop and really look at them. What a nice thing!

What a difference a day or two makes. After the beautiful Spring day we had for the garden wedding on Sunday, this morning we are back to winter. With snow falling and skies getting darker by the minute, it feels more like January than late April. Brrr …

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Surprise! I am a day late with my weekly photo challenge entry. But I only found a suitable subject today … and given that the theme is ‘surprise’, I thought that I could be forgiven.

I have a number of Phalaenopsis Orchids all of which stopped blooming when the autumn sun started pouring in through the kitchen windows. Seeing no indication that the orchids would ever bloom again, I was starting to give up on them. However, I have great difficulty bringing myself to throw away living plants. So this afternoon I put the orchids in a sink to water and fertilize them when to my surprise I discovered new growth on several of the specimens.

Now I can hope for new blooms in the new year. Maybe someday they shall even look like this again!

For this week’s photography challenge, I headed out to the Konza Prairie after breakfast. I was captivated by this one ashen white tree. Notice also the moss colored tree just in front and to the right of it. Upon close inspection, there really were so many subtle colors to be seen.

The evergreens covered with berries reminded me of Christmas.

It was a heavy sky, but just a little too warm to snow. All that fell were a few sprinkles of cold rain.

Quite a few trees were covered with moss. It made them look bundled up for the cold.

This pair of trees seemed ready for winter to be over and it has hardly begun.

What a pleasant surprise every now and then to run into some brightly-colored berries.

But then I would look at the woods, so ominous-looking, and I was happy to head home for a cup of hot tea.

These are photos of my Marilyn Monroe rose that I took this morning. Brrr …

Marilyn Monroe is considered an apricot-colored rose, but the color of rose blooms is often affected by temperatures and seasons. This last bloom of the year was a true pink, but with lime green outer petals – stunning, even in the cold.